When Visiting Small Villages, Bring A Gift
Several villages in Fiji require visitors to participate in a sevusevu before joining the community (gift-giving ritual). This means you can't go anyplace you want to investigate. When visiting a Fijian community, visitors are expected to provide a small gift. The village chief, known as the Turaga ni Koro, will greet you next and serve you kava to commemorate your arrival. This is one of the things about Fiji you should know before visiting.
A sevusevu is required even if you only wish to visit the village's attractive features, such as a waterfall or swimming hole. In Fiji's most isolated communities, walking into an unfamiliar town without a sevusevu is considered impolite and possibly trespassing.
Even if you merely plan to visit the village's picturesque sites, such as a waterfall or swimming hole, you will need to bring a sevusevu. Walking into an unfamiliar village without a sevusevu is sometimes considered rude and even trespassing, particularly in Fiji's more rural villages. Even when the Fijian guests visit for supper, they bring bread and butter or kava as a sevusevu.
When presenting your sevusevu, it is very advised that you dress modestly and avoid wearing anything on your head. Connect with one of the trusted Local Designers in Fiji if you don't want to deal with the logistics of multiple sevusevu ceremonies each day.
